Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Alberta (& Saskatchewan) Tar Sands

The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities.

To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.

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Alberta Tar Sands is a category limited to the location and production of tar sand bitumen, an area the size of the state of Florida in northern Alberta province. The giant processing plants near Fort McMurray where the land itself is strip mined as well as the primarily "in situ" in-ground steam separation/production and extraction plants in the Peace and Cold Lake Regions, all in Alberta, are the "Ground Zero" of the single largest industrial gigaproject ever proposed in human history. The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities. To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.

PM takes a trip to Fort McMurray (2 articles)

PM hears frank concerns from locals in closed-door meeting

By CAROL CHRISTIAN
Fort McMurray Today staff
Tuesday November 06, 2007

There were no promises or money from Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his brief visit to Wood Buffalo Monday, and only vague answers about any tangible results of the visit from area MP Brian Jean.
But that didn’t stop some of those business leaders who participated in a roundtable discussion with the PM from calling it a success, especially when it came to raising awareness of issues faced by the region.

Prentice: "We need to 'demystify' the SPP"

Prentice: We need to 'demystify' the SPP

Jim Prentice, the federal Industry Minister, says governments and business leaders in North America must do a better job of selling the virtues of closer economic and security links among the three countries.

In a speech Tuesday to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, he said there is an urgent need to "demystify" the push to closer ties among Canada, the United States and Mexico, as outlined in the Security and Prosperity Partnership launched in March of 2005.

Keystone & 2 other international pipeline stories

Analysis: Oil and Gas Pipeline Watch
Nov. 5, 2007 at 6:24 PM
By SIOBHAN DEVINE
UPI Correspondent
China finishes construction of tunnel for Sichuan-Shanghai gas pipeline

On Monday, workers in China’s Hubei province completed construction of a 1,405 meter tunnel connecting the banks of the Yangtze River in Yichang City for a new gas pipeline to supply China’s energy-short east.

Cold-- K Beaton comic

November 4, 2007

Cold (click on the image to view)

by Katie Beaton

The Dominion - http://www.dominionpaper.ca

Greenpeace Opens Alberta Legislature Sitting with High Flying Protest

Edmonton, Canada — Four Greenpeace activists suspended their bodies 138 feet over the North Saskatchewan River today to hang two 23 x 50 foot banners from the High Level Bridge in Edmonton. The banners depict the areas under current and projected tar sands development with the message "Stop the Tar Sands." They hang in full view of the Alberta legislature, which opened today.

Six steps to “getting” the global ecological crisis

Posted by Prof. Goose on November 4, 2007 - 9:05am
John Feeney, Ph.D. Trained as a psychologist

Some of us who examine and discuss environmental matters are constantly puzzled and frustrated by the seeming inability of elected officials, environmental organizations, and environmental and political writers to “get” the nature of our ecological plight. Could it be they’re simply unaware of the ecological principles which enable one to understand it?

Fort Mac braces for huge rent hikes

Fort Mac braces for huge rent hikes
Three-bedroom place with leaky roof costs $2,950
By The Canadian Press
Sun. Nov 4 - 6:44 AM

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — Some apartment dwellers in northern Alberta’s booming oilsands were shocked this week to find notices posted on their doors warning of impending rent hikes exceeding $1,000 a month.

Management at River Park Glen told tenants the increases would become effective Feb. 1.

Edmonton: Rent crunch to worsen, go below 1% vacancy

Rent crunch to worsen
Vacancy rate forecasted to dip to under 1%

By KEVIN CRUSH, SUN MEDIA

Think the rental market is tight now? Just wait until next year.

That's when the apartment vacancy rate in Edmonton is forecasted to dip below the current 1% - making it that much harder for already frustrated renters to find a place to live.

"It's just getting retarded," said Jasmine, who asked her last name not be printed.

SIX MONTHS LOOKING

Jasmine said she's already spent more than six months trying to find a decent place for her and her fiance to rent with no luck.

Offsetting carbon while the boreal burns: Canadian Boreal Initiative (Pew) funds Suzuki to promote boreal forest carbon trading

PetrCizek:
Comment: Just as more scientific evidence continues to emerge that increased forest fires, all caused by climate change, are now causing the boreal forest to emit more carbon than it absorbs, the Big Greens (coincidentally funded by the Big Oil Pew foundation) continue to promote the idea of carbon trading from boreal forest "offsets". Yet, even the Canadian Forest Service has concluded that Canadian forests should not be included as a "sink" under Kyoto due to the extremely high risk of forest fires and insect outbreaks in the future:

Enbridge Announces TWO MORE (diluent & bitumen) Pipelines for Tar Sands

Enbridge to build C$2 billion oil sands pipeline
Fri Nov 2, 2007 10:31pm GMT

CALGARY, Alberta, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Enbridge Inc said on Friday it will build a C$2 billion ($2.14 billion) oil pipeline to handle tar-like bitumen from Petro-Canada's (PCA.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) planned Fort Hills oil sands project.

Enbridge, Canada's No. 2 pipeline firm, said the 480-km (300-mile) line will be capable of carrying 250,000 barrels of diluted bitumen a day from the project site near Fort McMurray, Alberta, southwest to an upgrader near the Alberta provincial capital of Edmonton.